1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a medical device. More specifically, the present invention relates to a tracheal intubation device for placing an endotracheal tube into the trachea of a patient.
2. Description of the Related Art
For apnea patients, tracheal intubation is an essential operation for sustaining respiration to maintain the vital signs of a patient. Medical personnel have to place an endotracheal tube into the trachea of a patient to ensure that oxygen is provided in a short period of time. Therefore, it is an important task for medical personnel to place the endotracheal tube efficiently. In practice, tracheal intubation devices equipped with a camera are often used by medical personnel to confirm the location of the trachea of a patient and then to place the endotracheal tube into the trachea of the patient. Tracheal intubation devices disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,306,547 and US Patent Publication Number 2007/0106121 are the most widely used tracheal intubation devices, and the image capturing device of each tracheal intubation device is installed on the lateral side of the endotracheal tube slot. When the glottis of the trachea of the patient is observed via the image capturing device, medical personnel push the endotracheal tube installed on the lateral side of the image capturing device into the trachea of the patient.
Although the tracheal intubation device disclosed in Patent Number 2007/0106121 does improve the process of tracheal intubation, some drawbacks during operation of the device need to be eliminated. Sometimes, due to the physical structure of a patient, the visual field of this kind of tracheal intubation device is blocked by the parallax caused by the camera installed on the lateral side of the endotracheal tube slot, or the endotracheal tube. Consequently, since the glottis of the trachea cannot be observed, the endotracheal tube cannot be precisely placed into the trachea of a patient by medical personnel. The Acta Anaethesiologica Scandinavica published in 2010 (2010; 54(9):1050-61) also indicates that this widely used tracheal intubation devices may occasionally fail in precise placement.
In view of the fact that efficient intubation is critical for the survival of a patient, there is a need to provide an intubation device by which intubation can be performed easily and precisely.